Bahá’í Thought

Thursday, November 01, 2012

I've been trying to figure out the right words. I'm going to keep it simple. Seven years is a long time to do most things. Given that the life-cycle of your typical blog resembles that of a mosquito, seven years is a really long time. It's time to do something new. Thanks to everyone who has supported this effort over the years. I'm hoping that others will be inspired to take the learning about Baha'i blogging forward and that you will give those who arise to do so the same support you have given me. It's been quite a journey. The seven years of content on this blog will remain available for those interested in reading it. You can also check out the links to Baha'i websites and blogs in my sidebar. There's some great work being done and much to explore. This is Phillipe Copeland, former author of Baha'i Thought signing off.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Want
to make some history? There are only two days left to vote for Baha'i
Thought in the annual Black Weblog Awards. The blog has been nominated in the Best Faith-Blog category. Voting ends on the 23rd. If
Baha'i Thought wins, it will be the first time a Baha'i blog won.
Ever. Vote now. http://www.blackweblogawards.com/vote-here/

If we win, you'll be able to say one day, "I was there the day Baha'i Thought once again broke the blog-barrier. Kind of like that guy who just jumped from outer-space."

Winners will be announced on November 1st.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

I feel a sense of urgency to engage as many people as possible in this conversation. Therefore I'm re-posting my latest piece from my new blog Change is Gonna Come here.

Listening to National Public Radio while you're driving can be
hazardous. Once again I almost drove off the road. The reporter was
talking about a fourteen year old girl in Pakistan, hunted down and shot by the Pakistani Taliban for the offense of going to school.
I was enraged. In spite of myself, all manner of hostile thoughts
filled my mind. Since then, I've been following the story and the
remarkable courage being shown by girls, women, and men in Pakistan.

Then
the cartoons started popping up on my Facebook page. I began to feel
uncomfortable with what I was seeing. What they all had in common was
the juxtaposition of a girl in hijab with some school-related objects
and a Middle Eastern/Muslim man (sometimes explicitly Taliban and
sometimes not) reacting to her in fear. There was a time when I would
have found these cartoons poignant and witty. That time has passed. Let
me explain why.

I've been on a kind of intellectual odyssey for
some years now. Its started after the 9/11 attacks and has accelerated
since the Arab Spring. I've been trying to better understand how
religion, race, gender, sexuality, and economics are all mixed up in the
East/West conflict. I knew in 2001 that those planes did not simply
come out of nowhere, just like I know now that the recent killing of an
American Ambassador in Libya didn't come out of nowhere. I've studied
and studied, dialogued and debated, written and written. A pivotal moment in this journey was reading Michael B. Oren's Power, Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present. Another, was reading Nadine Naber's ground-breaking essay, Look,
Muhammad the Terrorist is Coming: Cultural Based Racism, Nation Based
Racism, and the Intersectionality of Oppressions after 9/11."

Scholar-prophets
like Naber have helped me understand that post-9/11 discourses have
constructed a villainous caricature that is Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim
and male. He is distinguished by cultural characteristics that are
treated as "natural" and inherently hostile to "our way of life," and
markers of marginalization such as Arab-sounding names or physical
appearance. In addition, he is often an immigrant from particular
countries and assumed to be suspect or "criminal" by virtue of his
nation of origin. The point of authors like Naber is not to deny that
very bad things are being done by people who happen to Arab/Middle
Eastern/male. As I understand it, they are arguing that the way we think
and talk about such things is deeply connected, however unconsciously,
to race and racism. When we fail to recognize this, we end up doing harm
even if our intentions are "good".

In my thinking, the Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim terrorist is part of a kind of domestic axis of evil in the American mind. The black criminal, the Latino illegal alien, the Asian economic and intellectual competitor, and the Native America land appropriator
(via casinos) complete this racial rogues gallery. While each of these
villains have differed in their perceived role in the American story,
what they share is representing a potential threat, sometimes an existential threat,
to the dominant culture and the fulfillment of Americas "destiny" as a
benign, global empire (euphemistically referred to as a "superpower").
James Baldwin challenges us to think deeply about why we create such
villains and its implications:

"It is the American
Republic—repeat, the American Republic—which created something which
they call a 'nigger'. They created it out of necessities of their own.
The nature of the crisis is that I am not a 'nigger'—I never was. I am a
man. The question with which the country is confronted is this: Why do
you need a nigger in the first place, and what are you going to do about
him now that he’s moved out of his place? Because I am not what you
said I was. And if my place, as it turns out, is not my place, then you
are not who you said you were, and where’s your place?”

It is in
this context that something as seemingly trivial as a cartoon becomes
complicated. I look at some of these images and wonder if they do not
perpetuate the Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim male caricature even as they appear to be supporting women and girls? Angela Davis in Abolition Democracy
reminds us that claims of support for women suffering in the so-called
Muslim world have a funny way of getting mixed up with military
aggression. I also can't help but ponder the fact that claims of
"defending" women have long been associated with dehumanization and
violence directed at men of color. Remember lynching? The
epithet "sand nigger" embodies the historical link between the
racialization of Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim men and black American men.
In light of these realities, I must face a potentially painful question.
Was my emotional reaction to hearing about Malala Yousufzai's shooting
just about a desire for gender equity, or was something more going on?
Could it have been that my rage emerged from subconscious biases towards
Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim men based on a lifetime of racial
conditioning? I haven't made up my mind.

Is it possible to engage
in advocacy on behalf of women and girls in the so-called Muslim world
without falling into the trap of perpetuating racial/religious
stereotypes? Can we engage in cross-cultural critique (violence against
women is wrong regardless of culture or belief) while avoiding cultural
imperialism (our approach to women is the "superior" way)? What might
that look like? I could ask the same question regarding sexist attitudes
and behaviors among men of color generally. We are haunted by our
racial history. It bedevils every effort at contemporary discourse and
dialogue regarding these thorny issues. As such, making mistakes does
not require malice on the part of anyone. However, our ideas have
real-world implications. Is it wrong to ask that we wrestle with those
implications?

I invite you to wrestle along with me regarding
these cartoons. We may reach different conclusions but I can live with
that. What I can no longer live with is not questioning such things.

Monday, October 08, 2012

The results are in and this little blog has made it to the final round of voting for the annual Black Weblog Awards! Thanks to everyone who voted and made this possible. If you didn't vote last time, no, worries here's you're chance. I hope that you will vote here and encourage others to do so. Just imagine, no debates, no robo-calls, no attack ads, no daily horse racing coverage of the latest polls by corporate media. Just you and your fingers doing the walking and supporting something you already know you like. Does it really get better?

Sunday, September 30, 2012

I wanted to announce a new blog that I've began called Change is Gonna Come. This new initiative has a new mission and will hopefully reach a new audience as well. I'm inviting you to pay a visit and decide if you wish to join me in this adventure.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Baha'i Thought is celebrating turning 7 years old this year. Who could have foreseen that this humble effort would last so long and come so far. Thanks to the generous support of its readership, it has garnered awards, had posts republished in diverse on-line media, is featured in numerous centers of mainstream religious discourse and has attracted attention from around the globe. God willing, our best years are yet to come. If you keep on reading, tweeting, sharing, and forwarding the posts you love to the people you love we can take this whole enterprise to another level. While every Baha'i Thought birthday is a milestone, this year you have the opportunity to give a gift other than your readership. Baha'i Thought has been nominated in the Best Faith Blog category of the annual Black Weblog Awards which is sponsored by the organization Blogging While Brown. I hope you'll celebrate with me by voting for Baha'i Thought here. The semi-final stage of voting ends October 1. If we make it to the finals, I'll be asking you to vote again. We.Can.Win.

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Who Is the Author?

Phillipe Copeland is author of the blog, "Baha'i Thought" which offers commentary on issues of religion, society, and culture based on the teachings of the Baha'i Faith. "Baha'i Thought" received a 2010 "Award of Excellence in Internet Communication" from the Religion Communicator's Council, a "Best of the Web" award from "The Daily Reviewer", and is featured on the Religion News Writer's Association website. Mr. Copeland is a contributing scholar to "State of Formation", a multi-author blog founded by the Journal for Interreligious Dialogue and run in partnership with Andover Newton Theological Seminary, Hebrew College, and The World Parliament of Religions. His columns are featured on "Peace Next", the social networking site of the World Parliament of Religions and Blogcritics Magazine. He is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, a Ph.D candidate in social work at Simmons College in Boston, MA, and Adjunct Faculty in Social Work at Boston University.

Mission Statement

The mission of Baha'i Thought is to promote the creation of a new civilization through the use of new media. It seeks to accomplish this through contributing to social discourse regarding issues of religion, society and culture in light of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah.

Disclaimer

Commentary offered on Baha'i Thought does not in any way reflect an authoritative or official view of the Baha'i Faith or any Baha'i Institution. It is neither more nor less that the public expression of the private thoughts of the author in his efforts to understand the various meanings of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah for issues of religion, society and culture. You read them at your own risk. For an official Baha'i presence on the web, please visit http://www.bahai.org/ or http://www.bahai.us/.

'Abdu'l-Baha in America 1912

Click on the Photo to learn more about the centenary of this epic journey.

Education Under Fire

Click on this image to learn about Iran's shameless policy of denying higher education to Baha'is

Being A Baha'i Is Not a Crime!

Click on the image above to learn about the persecution of the Baha'is of Iran